Method of dephenolization of ammoniacal liquor



Aug. 3, 1937.. M. SHOELD 2,088,817

METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIACAL LIQUOR Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 AESORBEHT INLET LIQUH) TO g m TREATED umum TO m:

TREATED ,k TREATED I I linventor Gttotneg 3, 1937. M. SHOELD 2,088,M7

METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIACAL LIQUOR Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 STEAM AND Ammow IA VAPOR.

AMMO LIQU F k EFFLUENT Zhmentor (Zttomeg M. SHOELD Aug. 3, 1937" 2,088,817 METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIAGAL LIQUOR 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 PHEHOLATE SOLUTIO CAU$TIC SODA;

SOLUTION Zhwentor JM M M .d 44 (Ittorneg Aug. 3, 1937. M. SHOELDV 2,088,817 4 METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIACALI LIQUOR Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Mil 50LUT|OH AMMONIA VAPOR. J6

AMMONIA Hausa-K cAusn'lc. .goma 501.0110" 3 E 5 MILK OF LINE I I-IQUQR FROM WHICH'FREE Anmmn HAS BEEN REMOVED FIXED STILL.

EFFLUENT 3nnentor Mia (lttomeg Aug 3, 1937.. M. SHOELD fi fi METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIACAL LIQUOR Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 STEAM AND AMMONIA VAPOR,

-h STEAM AND AMMONIA VAPOR.

LIMED LIQUOR. zjvflrFK 28 mt LIME J3 m LIME LEG g 4 mt FIXED 511L1- sTAM I I I I 1:12:

2.9 EFFLUENT Snoentor 1 attorney Aug. 3, 1937. M. SHOELD 2,@83,817

METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONiACAL LIQUOR origi nal Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 ycAusTlc sooA SOLUTION STEAM AHD AMMONIA VAPOR,

AMMON IA LIQUOR.

GAS OR. EAM R BOTH STEAM AND AMMONIA LlQUOlrZ HOLIZED Ll QUOR,

LINED l-lGUOB FROM WHICH FREE AMMONIA HAS BEEN REMOVED rLIGUOR.

Inventor 7 VJ/M 22 y y attorney 3, 1937. M. SHOELD wsww METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION OF AMMONIACAL LIQUOR Original Filed Aug. 17, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 AM MON IA LIQUOR 5L i'A2 fi J E9E CONTAINING: FREE AMMONIA. FIXED AMMONIA AND PHEHOL- I l IL OF LIME. I i [QTEAMXaAm-qomM M K 14' VAPOR(MAY AL5O comma sow-1E 1 H2260; Ann. 1 m I 1 312? r umso uauosa 2? FREE LIME cow'mmme F IKE D AMMONIA LEG- ORISIINALLY AMMONIA Fm ummonm 1.535 52 lglfifl STILL HOWIN max-2 ANMOHIACOZQ H s (I. z.,vumrn a) HAS 52m REMOVED, 1 501' CONTAINING: f PHEHOL m VOLATlLt I snLL WASTE FQRM on EF'FLUENT -n-- I LIQUOR aonmmme sues-m rn'mux 1-: l I J\ I l l: NO PHEHOL scnussme i I um IT .3 L

srmm SODIUM PHEHOLATE. sow-non T Z F (MAY CONTAIN 5on5 mes mus-m. soon) ---Ausr|c SODA SOLUTION srmppma nzvuenouzat: Hausa CONTAINING UN 2 F| 0(I.E.,N0H VOLATIL)AMMOHIA I L- STEAM LEGEND 7 f/J 'Zhmentor a- (Ittorneg Patented Aug. 3, 193? I r PATENT OFFICE i 2,088,817 METHOD OF DEPHENOLIZATION 0F AM? 'MONIACAL LIQUOR xMark Shoeld, Baltimore, Md., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Koppers Company, a corporation of Delaware Original application August 17,1929, Serial No. 386,515. Divided and this application February 2'7, 1934, Serial No. 713,165 r I I 5Claims.

My invention r elate s to the treatment of liquids-for the separation-of constituents thereof or for the removal of volatile impurities. My invention, while it may be applied to a great number of problems, has a p-articularapplication to the dephenolization of'ammcniacal liquor, as described inmy copending application Serial No. 386,515, flled August '17, 1929, now Patent No. 1,952,099, issued March2'l, 1934, of which this application is a division;

An object of my invention is to provide a method of and apparatus-for treating liquids for the separation or removal of constituents that shall be of improved efliciency with respect to prior methods and apparatus.

A further object of my invention is to provide'an advantageous method and apparatus for the purification of liquids from impurities by means of a carrier fluid that shall be effective to reduce the amount of carrier fluid required for the removal or a given amount of impurity.

A still further object of my invention is to provide improved method and apparatus for the purifl'cationbf liquids from volatile impurities, particularlywith respect to the dephenolization of ammoriiacal liquor. v

Myjinvention isbO-ncerned principally with processes in which a carrier fluid such as, for example, another fluid or a gas, is employed for the purpose of removing a constituent or im purity from a liquid'and transferring it to an absorption or purification agent of some sort,

for example, a solid absorbent or another liq uid.

Infall such processes it usually happens that the carrier fluid also removes other constituents of the liquidtreated than that constituent which itis desired principally to remove. Consequently, "an attempt has been made to employ absorbent means for the removal of impurities which-do not affect thepresence of other constituents in the carrier fluid and to employ the carrier fluid in a closed cycle so that constituents not removed by the absorbent means will tend to saturate the carrier fluid to such an extent that it will no longer extract such constituents from the liquid being treated, and will serve only to remove that constituent whose removal is principally desired.

It may be, for example, that it is desired to remove constituents from an aqueous ammoniacal liquor. It has" been shown that the dephenolization ofthis liquor is best accomplished'by maintaining theliquor and the caustic soda solution which serves as an absorbent for the phenol, as wellas the recirculating gas which serves as carrier, at a temperature just below the boiling point of the ammoniacal liquor. The function of the caustic soda solution isthus to extract only the phenol'wfrom the" recirculating gases (Cl. 260154) which said gases have removed from the ammoniacal liquor.

Condensation of steam or ammonia, if the latter be present, does not occur.' This: consideration is of considerable importance because on the one hand even a small variation in tempera ture would causethe condensation of considerable amounts of steam and a great increase in cost of carrying out the process and on the other 1 hand the condensation of ammonia in the caustic soda solution employed for dephenolization would be undesirable and would represent a loss of valuable material.

Such processes as have been briefly outlined above are thus seen to consist ordinarily of aclosed cycle in which a' carrier fluid is recirculated through a stage whichmay be designated] as the stripping stage in which the carrier fluid removes the desired constituent from the liquid, and a scrubbing stage in which the carrier fluid is in turn treated for the removal oi said constituent therefrom.

In one of its aspects, my invention constitutes an improvement upon the process and apparatus described and claimed in the copending application of Joseph A. Shaw, Serial No. 230,570, 7 flled November 2, 1927, now Patent No. 1,957,295

of May 1, 1934.

Such processes ordinarily require the recirculation of considerable amounts of carrier "fluid even under optimum conditions. In most instances, howevenit may be desired to employ a definite and limited flow of carrier fluid whether liquor or gas, and this flow may be insufficient in quantity to accomplish adequate removal of the impurity or constituent desired to be removed.

For example, in the distillation of gas liquor,

it may be desired to employ the steam which is normally used for the distillation of said liquor as the dephenolization medium. Howevenas is well known, prior methods and apparatus have been such that this amount of steam is far below that ordinarily required for distillation of the phenol from liquor with the result that the greater part of the phenols pass through the distillation, system with the gas liquor and eventually come into contact with the lime or other agent added for the purpose of decomposing fixed ammonia compounds to form calcium phenolates which cannot be removed by steam distillation and pass out in the waste liquor from the still.

My invention contemplates employment of a carrier fluid for the purpose of removing a constituent or impurity from a liquid and involving the treatment of the liquid with said carrier fluid in a series of repeated contacts between each of which contacts said carrier fluid is treated for the removal of the constituent or impurity absorbed from said liquor.

By thus increasing the number of contacts of the carrier fluid or a stream of carrier fluid with the liquid to be treated together with the treatment of the carrier fluid between each of said contacts the quantity of carrier fluid required to efiect a, given quantity of any constituent or impurity from liquid is materially reduced.

My invention may be applied to the removal of various constituents and impurities from liquids and by means of various carrier fluids, but it is particularly advantageous with respect to the removal of volatile constituents or impurities from liquids by means of a gas, and it finds a particular application to the dephenolization of ammoniacal liquor as aforesaid.

As illustrations of various processes which may be carried out according to the process and in the apparatus of the present invention, I may cite the following:

Non-aqueous liquid such as coal tar from both high temperature coking and low temperature coking operations may be treated for the removal of phenols, the carrier fluid employed being coal gas or steam, and the phenol absorbent being a solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide or milk of lime.

Hydrogen sulphide may be removed from water or oil or other liquid containing it by means of air, steam or gas as a carrier fluid, the absorbent employed being a solution of an alkali such as sodium hydroxide, or a metallic salt solution such as a solution of ferric chloride, or a suspension of ,metallic compound such as iron oxide in a solution of an alkali such as sodium carbonate. In the case of very volatile oils such as gasoline, the employment of air as a carrier fluid would not ordinarily be desired by reason of the fire hazard involved.

Gasoline and other fractions of petroleum distillation may be weathered, that is, treated for the removal of extremely volatile petroleum distillates according to the present process, the carrier fluid being steam or gas, and the absorbent being, for example, a Wash oil having a greater aflinity for the lighter distillates than the gasoline or other material from which they are to be removed.

Hydrogen cyanide may also be removed from the liquid containing it in. volatile form according to the present process by means of a current of gas or of steam, and the absorbent employed may be similar to that employed for the removal of hydrogen sulphide, as hereinabove recited, or may constitute a suspension of sulphur in an alkaline solution.

In order that my invention may be fully set forth and understood, I now describe with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a number of its specific embodiments, the preferred manner in which it is accomplished and carried out but without limiting myself to such illustrative examples.

In these drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of apparatus for accomplishing the removal and recovery of a volatile constituent of a liquid by means of a stream of gas;

Figure 2 is a similar view of apparatus employed for the same purpose as that shown in Fig. 1, but differing somewhat in the relative arrangement of its several parts, as will be hereinafter shown;

Figure 3 is an elevational View of an ammonia still for the distillation of gas liquor provided with apparatus for additionally accomplishing the dephenolizatio'n of the liquor in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 4 is a view, partly in elevation and i par'tly in vertical section, taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3;

Fig.5;

Figures 7 and 8 are elevational views similar to Fig. 5 of various forms and arrangements of ammonia stills provided with apparatus for accomplishing the objects of the present invention; and

Figure 9 is a flow diagram of a process employed in the apparatus shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Similar numerals designate similar parts in each of the several views of the drawings.

InFig. 1 there is ilustrated, as simply as possible, the principle of the present invention. In this instance the apparatus consists of a tower indicated generally by the character of reference I. The tower is divided into a plurality of alternately disposed stripping sections 2 and scrubbing sections 3 separated by appropriate partitions 4 designed to allow the free passage of gas from one section to the other while preventing the flow of liquid. The tower is provided with a gas inlet 5 in the lower portion thereof and an outlet 6 in the upper portion thereof whereby a stream of gas under appropriate {pressure is 3 passed in an upward direction through the tower I, thereby traversing the plurality of sections 2 and 3.

The stripping sections 2 and scrubbing sections 3 are so disposed with respect to the path of the gas passing through the tower I that each of said stripping sections 2 is followed by a scrubbing section 3. The liquid to be treated is introduced in this instance to the uppermost stripping section 2 through a conduit 1 and appropriate sprays or. other distributing devices 8 and passes downward through the stripping section 2 in contact with the current of gas.

The liquid then accumulating in the recess provided by the partition 4 passes through a conduit 9 and is distributed by a second group of sprays 8 throughout the interior of the next lowest stripping section 2. After passing through this section it then passes out through a similar conduit 9 into the lowest stripping section 2 as before, and upon reaching the bottom of the tower I passes out through a drain II.

Inthe present instance an absorbent liquid of appropriate nature is employed in the scrubbing sections 3 and, as shown in Fig. 1, is caused to pass through said scrubbing sections 3 in a series which is countercurrent with respect to the series followed by the liquid being treated and passing through the stripping sections 2. The absorbent liquid is introduced by means of a pipe I2 and sprays 8 into the lowest scrubbing section 3 and after passing through this section is conveyed by a conduit I3, a pump I4 or equivalent device, a conduit I5 and sprays 8 to the next highest scrubbing section 3. After the liquid passes through this section it is again pumped as before to the next highest scrubbing section 3 from which it is taken off by means of a drain I6. I

It will thus be seen that the liquid being treated passes throughl'a plurality..1of stages in a series counter'currentto the flow of the carrier gas and the absorbent liquid passesthrough a like plurality of stages situated countercurrently with respect to the flow of the carrier gas. The gas entering the system initially traverses first the liquid already treated a number of times and then the freshestuabsorbent liquid, and finally passes through the stagein whichthe liquid to be treated is first introduced andthen the stage in which the absorbent liquid is last used. This countercurrent arrangement is particularly ads vantageous when a non-recirculatingfiow is employed and when the principal desideratum is that the liquid leaving the system shall contain as little of the removed impurity as possible.

In general the temperatures and conditions throughoutthe system should 'be such that' no condensation of other impurities than that desired to be removedwill occurand this object is generally realized by maintaining: the entire system at a temperature just below the boiling point of the less volatile of the two liquids involved, namely, the liquid-being treated and the absorbent liquid, and also by employing an absorbent liquid. having a chemical rather than a merely physical action upon the constituent.

which is removed from the fresh liquid. For example, when phenol is to beremoved from an ammoniacal liquor, a solution of caustic soda; or similar alkali may be employed as the absorbent liquid.

The pumps M which are necessary because of the path followed bythe absorbent liquid in trave ersing the scrubbing sections 3 may be of any type suitable for the handling of the absorbent liquid involved and may conveniently be replaced in many instances by airor steam-lifts.

In the apparatus shown inFig. 2 such pumps or lifts are not necessaryasin this instance the absorbent liquid enters the uppermost scrubbing section3 andpassesdown'ward through theremaining scrubbing sections 3 in a directionpan allel to the how of thetreated liquid through the stripping sections 2. In this instance conduits I! are provided for conducting thefabsorbent liquid from one scrubbing; section-*3 to the next lowe'st. 3 i s The concurrent arrangement shown 'iri-l igL '2 is particularly advantageous whenit' is desired to insure that the gas leaving the tower? I through outlet 6 will contain a minimum amountoi volatilized constituent, which object isrealized due to the fact that the gas about to leave thesystern traverses that scrubbing section 31which is supplied with the freshabsorbent liquid.

' The apparatusshown in Figs. land 2 maybe employed with either a single non-recirculating now of carrier gas or with a recirculating flow or gas, but in either instance will permit the use of a much smaller fiow of carrier gas than will be true if only a single stripping section anda; single scrubbing section were em'ployedwMoreover; the specific nature of the scrubbing sections and stripping sections may be varied according toth'e type'of contact desired. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, these "sections are filled with the usual typeof contact material involving contact of a'large area with low back pressure, but other types ofcontact devices may be used, for

example, bubbling trays; 1

It will be seen that my invention is independent'of the nature of the liquidbeing treated, the absorbing agent or the :carrierfiuid. How

. 7 e w it i p l to a ar i u a prob em it will at .once be apparent tqthose skilled in; the art that it should be so adapted as to secure results consistent with other objects to be .:attained at the same time, and also,- where possible, with the minimum ofchange with respect to well developed existing processes An exam g pleof its specific application to;the problem of dephenolization of ammoniacal liquor is illus-; trated in Fig. 3. p i i Referring to this view, the usual apparatus for the distillation of ammonia liquor is shown as comprising a free ammonia still 20, a lime leg 2 I, and a fixed ammonia still ;22.- As in the usual process OfdlStlHat-iOII the ammoniacal liquor is firstdistilled in the free ammonia still 20 for removal of volatile constituents, such as ame monia, .carbon dioxide, andhydrogen sulphide, andthen passes into the lime leg 2l where it is mixed with milk of lime or other chemical for. the decomposition of fixedammonia compounds, and is then steam distilled in the fixed ammonia still 22 for the removal of the ammonia origi-- nally present in fixed form. In the usual type of still, steam is principally admittedto the bot-e tom of the fixed still and the mixture of steam and ammonia vapor passes upward through the fixed ammonia still 22, then through thepfree ammonia still 20, and thence to the dephlegma-v tors and condensers or. equivalentapparatus,

In the present instance; as shownin Figs. 3 and 4, the absorption tower or column I of themesent invention may be conveniently combined with the conventional ammonia distillation apparatus by mounting it upon the fixed ammonia still 22. The column I shown in Figs. 3 and; corresponds with respect to arrangement of; stripping sec tions 2 and scrubbingsections 3with the appa; ratus shown in Fig. 1, but differs from the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 in that the various sections 2 and 3 areof the bell-and-tray type. Suchsecr tions or trays are preferably made quiteadeepin order to permit the passage of a large amount of steam and vapor with. as little entrainment as possible, and to insure against accidental overflow of liquid from any section.

The course of the gas liquor throughtherunit is as follows. It enters the free ammonia still 20 through an inlet 23 and passes downthrough the sections or trays of the free, ammonia still, in the usual manner. of the free ammonia still 2|] it passes .out through a conduit 24 and is forced by a pump 25 or steam lift to the uppermost stripping section 2 of the tower I. It then passes downwardthrough the various stripping sections 2 of the tower l, and thenthrough a conduit 26 into the, lime leg 2| Where it is mixed with milk of lime introduced through a conduit 21 in the usual manner.. The lime liquor then overflows through the conduit 28 into the fixed ammoniastill 22,;and. after passing downward through the various sections of. the same, finally passes out through a drain 2 9 subs stantiallycompletely free of ammonia and :phenol. In this instance the steam employedfor the usual distillation of the ammoniacal liquor also serves as the carrier fluid for the dephenoliza tion process. This steam enters the bottom of the fixed ammonia still 22 through an inlet 30 and passes upward through the fixed ammonia still 22, then through the alternating stripping sec,- tions 2 andscrubbing sections 3 of the -dephenoliaing tower I, through a conduit 3l to the .bottom of the free ammonia still 2!! and upward: through the same, ultimately emerging froinQthe free ammonia still 20 through a vapor outlet, 2,.lead

Upon reaching the bottom lng'to' the like." 1 1 During this course the steam first removes the decomposed ammonia from the limed liquor, then accomplishes repeated partial dephenolizations' of the already partlydistilled liquor and finally serves to remove the bulk of the free ammonia and the acidic impurities from the gas liquor. Steam may also be admitted to the lime leg 2| through an inlet 33 as in the usual ammonia still. "In thisinstance caustic soda solution of the proper strength and'temperature is employed as the'abso'rbent liquid for the phenol and'this solution is caused to traverse the scrubbing sections 31in a series opposite to the series of stripping sections 2 traversed by the liquor being treated. A plurality of steam lifts 34 may be conveniently employed to transfer the caustic soda solution from one scrubbing section 3 to the next. 1 The advantage of the'arrangement shown in Flgsx3'arid 4' is that it provides a complete distillationof the gas liquor with respect to ammonia before it leaves the system and thus prevents loss ofjthis valuablematerial. However, the arrangement shown in Figs, 3 and 4 is such that the gas traversing the dephenolizing tower I contains considerable quantities of ammonia. Since ammonia is known to have a slight depressing actionupon'the volatilization of phenols it may in some instances be desired to employ the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 5. In this instance the free ammonia still 20 is conveniently mounted upon thefixed ammonia still 22 and the dephenolizing column 'I is conveniently mounted upon the lime leg 2|, although this arrangement may be varied to suit conditions.

Aside from this arrangement, the principal detailin which the apparatus in Fig. 5 differs from that 'Ot-Figs. 3 and 4 is the introduction of the steam for the dephenolization and distillation operations through a conduit 35' into the bottom of the dephenolizing column I. In this instance, the course of the steam is through the alternated stripping sections 2 and scrubbing sections 3 of thedephenolizing column I, then through a conduit 36 to the bottom of the fixed ammonia still 22' and then through the fixed ammonia still 22 and the free ammonia still in the usual manner.

' Inasmuch as the liquor entering the dephenollzing column I through the conduit 26 has already been distilled for the removal of substantially all of its free ammonia content, it is obvious that the concentration of ammonia in the steam passing through the dephenolizing column I will be very low andconsequently the above mentioned depressing eifec't upon the volatilization of phenol will be greatly reduced or entirely eliminated.

cases where the free ammonia content of the liquor being treated is such that the steam emergin'g-from the dephenolizing column I contains a considerable amount of ammonia, the appa ratus shown in'Fig. 6 may be employed in which the c'onduit 36 conducting said vapors from the dephenolizing column I to the fixed ammonia still 22 is introduced to the latter at a point some distance; from the waste liquor outlet 29, for example, into the second or third section from the bottom of the fixed ammonia still 22. In this instance additional steam may be supplied through dephlegmators, condensers, and the an inlet 31 to the bottom of the fixed ammonia still 22in order to insure that the Waste liquor is completely freed from ammonia before discharging it.

'Ordinarilyzrthe preferred absorbent agent for the phenol in the dephenolizing operation is a solutionof sodium hydroxide and when this is true, it is extremely desirable that the carbon dioxide originally present in the gas liquor be completely removed in the free still prior to the dephenolizing operation, as otherwise this constituent .will react unfavorably with the sodium hydroxide, forming sodium carbonate. However, other absorbent liquids may be employed, for example, a suspension of lime similar to that used in the lime leg and this precaution is then no longer of such importance.

. Thisis' particularly true when the ammonia from the distillation operation, is to be used for the manufacture of aqua ammonia or when for other reasons a high purity of the vapors escaping from the still is; desired. In such case the apparatus shown in- Fig '7 may be employed to advantage. "Itwill be noted in the drawings that the free ammonia still is'entirely eliminated, its place being taken by the dephenolizing column -I constituted as before and conveniently mounted upon the lime leg 2|.

In this instance the ammonia liquor to be distilled enters the uppermost stripping section 2 of 'the'dephenolizing column I and passes downward through the series of stripping sections 2 in countercurrent to the steam and ammonia vapor coming from the fixed ammonia still 22. Duringits passage through the stripping sections 2 the ammonia originally present in volatile form as well as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and analogous impurities and also the phenol are driven off by the steam and the phenol and all or a considerable portion of the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide is absorbed by the lime liquor which traverses the scrubbing sections 3.

' The ammonia liquor then passes down intothe lime leg 2I and through, the fixed ammonia still 22 in the usual manner. While calcium phenolate is produced by this method it is done so; deliberately and the resulting solution; of

calcium phenolate which passes out of the de-.

phenolizing column; I through the outlet I6 is very highly concentrated as compared to the concentration of calcium phenolate which would otherwise result in the still waste leaving the system through the drain 29. Thisdifierence in concentration enables its comparatively easy recovery or disposal.

- It will be apparent from the above description thatin this modification of my invention the suspension of lime employed in the scrubbing sections 3-does not come into contact with the ammonia liquor which-traverses only the stripping sections 2. Consequently this suspension of lime is not subjected to reaction with the fixed ammonia compounds of the ammonia liquor and emerges through the conduit I 6 substantially uncontaminated withsuch products as calcium chloride or calcium sulphate which are present in the efiluent liquor or still waste leaving the system through the conduit 29. The material leaving the system through the conduit I6 does, however, contain, in addition to calcium phenolate, considerable quantities of calcium hydrosulphide and calcium carbonate resulting from the "production of the ammonia vapors from hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide.

While the apparatus shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 employs as the carrier fluid the steam employed-for the distillation of the liquor for removal ofammonia without recirculation, and

this is made possible by means of the plurality of contacts provided by the present invention, under certain circumstances it may be advisable to employ a recirculating carrier fluid and when this is the case, the apparatus shown in Fig. 8 may be used to advantage.

In this instance the apparatus differs in two respects from that shown in Figs. 3 and 4. First, in that the dephenolizing column I is shown as an independent unit of construction and, second, in that the dephenolizing column I is entirely removed from the path of the steam used for ammonia distillation, the steam. following the usual course. In its place there is provided a blower40 and conduits 4| and 42 for recirculating a carrier fluid through the dephenolizing column I. This. carrier fluid may be any gas chemically inert with respect to the ammonia liquor and saturated with steam at the temperature of operation above set forth.

In all of the above instances the system is maintained under such conditions and such temperatures that no condensation as such takes place in the scrubbing sections 3 of the dephenolizing column I, the action of the absorbent in these sections being merely chemical. This result is obtained by adding requisite quantities of steam directly or indirectly, wherever required, as for example, to steam jackets adjacent to or surrounding the individual stages and alsoby insulating the apparatus to prevent loss of sensible heat.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that my invention is susceptible of various changes and combinations and that it is not limited to the specific instances hereinabove shown by way of illustrative example, but may variously be embodied and practiced within the scope of the claims hereinafter made.

I claim as my invention:

1. The process of separately removing ammonia and phenol from liquor containing ammonia in free and fixed form, which comprises:

subjecting the liquor to free ammonia distillation with steam to drive off free-ammonia therefrom; flowing the residual ammonia liquor through a group of phenol stripping stages, passing an inert gas which is substantially free of any substantial amount of the free ammonia from the free ammonia distillation step serially through i the stripping stages and through scrubbing stages of phenol absorbent alternating with the stripping stages in the serial flow of the inert gas to strip the phenol from the liquor and to scrub the phenol from the inert gas in the respective stages, and thereafter treating the dephenolized liquor with lime and further distilling it to recover the fixed ammonia.

2. The process of separately removing ammonia and phenol from liquor containing ammonia in free and fixed form, which comprises: flowing the ammonia liquor through a free ammonia distillation step, then through a group of phenol stripping stages, thence through a lime step where the liquid is reacted with lime to liberate fixed ammonia, and thereafter through a further distillation step for the liberated fixed ammonia; simultaneously flowing the distillation steam normally required for the ammonia distillation first through the further distillation step and subsequently through the free ammonia distillation step to effect the ammonia distillations in both said steps; and passing said normally required distillation steam, after it issues from said further distillation step but before it enters the free ammonia distillation step, serially through said phenol stripping stages and through scrubbing stages of phenol absorbent alternating with the stripping stages in the serial flow of the steam to strip the phenol from the liquor and to scrub the phenol from the steam in the respective stages.

3. The process of separately removing ammonia and phenol from a liquor containing ammonia in free and fixed form, which process comprises, flowing the ammonia liquor serially through a free ammonia distillation step, then through a group of phenol stripping zones, thence through a lime reaction step where the liquid is treated with lime to liberate fixed ammonia, and then through a fixed ammonia distillation step, simultaneously passing the steam normally required for the distillation of the ammonia in said steps first through the phenol stripping zones in series, thence serially through the fixed ammonia distillation step and thereafter through the free ammonia distillation step, and scrubbing the steam with phenol-absorbent liquid in a group of scrubbing zones alternating in position with the stripping zones in the path of the flow of steam from one stripping zone to the next.

4. The process of separately removing am monia, CO2, HzS, and phenol from a liquor containing ammonia in free and in fixed form, which comprises: establishing a flow of the ammonia liquor through a group of stripping stages, then through a liming stage in which the liquor is treated with milk of lime to convert fixed ammonia into free ammonia, and then through a fixed ammonia distillation stage, establishing a flow of distillation steam through said fixed ammonia distillation stage to drive off liberated fixed ammonia and thence through said group of stripping stages to drive off the free ammonia, CO2, H23 and phenol and establishing a flow of milk of lime through a group of scrubbing stages alternating with the stripping stages in the serial flow of the steam to scrub the stripped constituents from the distillation steam in the respective scrubbing stages. 7

5. A process of dephenolizing an ammoniacal liquid which comprises: subjecting the ammoniacal liquid to be treated after it has been freed by steam distillation of its free ammonia to dephenolization in a plurality of separate stages of relatively small proportions of the entire tion stages to phenol absorption with a phenol absorption liquid and thereby regenerating the steam with respect to phenol for the next phenol stripping stage in its serial flow.

MARK SHOELD. 

